


A Wizard Road Trip... The Muggle Way

by tinarebekka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 14:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4226028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinarebekka/pseuds/tinarebekka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A trip through Bavaria where not much goes according to plan. Wait, what plan?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wizard Road Trip... The Muggle Way

**Author's Note:**

> Written for HD_fan_fair and first posted on Livejournal on Oct. 9th, 2010.

He took one look at the building in front of him and his companion and his already abysmal mood sank even farther. He didn't see the beautiful view, paid no attention to the comparatively clean air surrounding them. No, all he noticed was the wrongness of it all and he felt personally insulted by the bright sunshine, making the snow that covered the village glitter and almost blinding.  
  
"Okay, Potter, stop being funny -- because let me tell you, you're not -- and get us to the real hotel _now_ ," Draco Malfoy demanded, his arms crossing in front of his chest. His gaze was fixed straight ahead but Harry didn't have to see his face to feel the anger radiating off him.  
  
Harry shrugged helplessly.  
  
"Well, this is it."  
  
Draco huffed. "I honestly never thought you were this dense... Why don't I repeat this for you one more time, hmm? Giving you a chance to understand? I. Will. Not. Stay. In. A. Muggle. Hotel. In. The. Middle. Of. Nowhere." Draco took a deep breath and added darkly, "If it's even a hotel and not a farm."  
  
"You realize that I wasn't the one to book our accommodation, don't you?" Harry asked cautiously. The vein in Draco's neck was pulsing visibly and he really didn't want to set him off needlessly.   
  
"Do I look like I care? You knew where we were going so you're the one responsible. Fix it!"  
  
Draco turned on his heel and stalked away to a bench nearby. He took out a handkerchief, made a big fuss of cleaning the seat of the two remaining snowflakes and sat down, a suffering expression on his face.   
  
Harry frowned, watching him putting on a show which was clearly for Harry's benefit. Draco wasn't one to whine endlessly but he certainly was capable of bringing across his feelings nonetheless. Not for the first time did Harry curse the head of their division who thought it a good idea to pair Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy up, indicating that they would balance each other out. The man stoically ignored their protestations and also refused to elaborate his reasons.   
  
That had been six months ago. After they both had finished their final year at Hogwarts and successfully managed to not kill each other during the endless years of attending school together, Harry still remembered what it had felt like -- like getting sucker-punched by a half giant at least -- to walk into his first training session as an auror and finding himself face to face with his new partner -- Draco. He hadn't been able to believe his bad luck then and that hadn't changed much all those months since then. Only now had he started coming to terms with it.  
  
Well, Harry was nothing if not adaptable to new situations and he had huge experience in accepting whatever challenge was thrown at him and so he had done what he always did: grit his teeth and made the best of it.  
  
Working together as a team was something they mastered quite quickly, out of necessity if not out of conviction. Both of them were ambitions; enough so to now want their mutual dislike to cause them to fail the training program.  
  
Over time, they had started to act civil toward each other and lately Harry could say honestly that there had been a few minutes every now and then where he actually started to like his partner.  
  
Right now, though, not so much.  
  
While Harry didn't really mind spending the upcoming fortnight in a Muggle environment, he failed to see why they couldn't stay in the wizarding village just around the corner like all the other participants of the conference. The longer he thought about it, the more he was convinced that this was a setup. The hotel staff hadn't been able to make room for the meagre number of two more people? Highly unlikely.  
  
Slapping his head at his own stupidity, Harry walked over to Draco.  
  
"I think they booked us in this hotel deliberately."  
  
"You don't say?" Draco didn't even look up at him.  
  
"Mmm. Unfortunately I don't think we can do anything about it now if we don't want to make a big fuss." Harry knew that changing the arrangements made for you during the trip itself was something frowned upon; indicating that you were ungrateful and didn't believe the person responsible for it was capable to do their job.  
  
"Who says I don't want to make a fuss?" Draco wanted to know, obviously perplexed.  
  
Of course. For a moment Harry had forgotten whom he was talking to. Draco couldn't care less about the feelings of some squib being proud of their job in the ministry and what it would do to that person to lose the trust of their superior. On the other hand there had been a mistake...  
  
"What did you do to that poor woman?" Harry couldn't help but ask. He didn't know her and Draco was not unknown to make enemies so it was usually safe to suspect him of the worst.  
  
Two pale eyebrows shot up, their owner indignant.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
So much for not provoking more anger... Harry commended himself for finding the worst thing to say and being stupid enough to actually voice it.  
  
"Can't we stay here for a few days...we might find it to our liking..." Harry tried to make amends but was interrupted.  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not? It's such a nice place and it's close enough to the location of the conference, don't you think?"  
  
"How the hell are we even supposed to get there?" Draco muttered and Harry smiled. He knew he had won Draco over halfway when he started asking for information.  
  
"There's this pub down the road and there's a shed behind it with a wall quite similar to the one at the Leaky Cauldron. When we're in the wizarding world we just need to walk a short distance and voilà, there we are. Easy."  
  
Harry tried his best to make it all sound relaxed and enticing. Well, for him it felt this way since he still was eager to distance himself from the fawning masses. Not every wizard was the same of course and most of them left him alone but being confined to a hotel with an indefinite number of people he didn't know but who knew him was not something he had been looking forward to.   
  
Draco seemed to think the newly gained information over and then he complained, "It's still in the middle of nowhere."  
  
Harry had to give him that but he also reminded him that they were wizards and could easily go anywhere they wanted. He also pointed out that not being housed with their fellow participants was an advantage meaning they had more freedom than the others.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
In the end he couldn't be sure what had made Draco give in and prevented him from insisting to find another, more suitable accommodation for them and Harry decided he didn't want to know. He was grateful for the lack of trouble that meant for him and kept his mouth shut. Who knew what reaction he'd provoke by saying _anything_?  
  
At the end of the second day of the conference Draco was barely able to contain his smug grin when he followed Harry back to their hotel. His former complaints were long since forgotten and Draco basked in the knowledge that he had a huge advantage when it came to Muggle related discussions. After all, wasn't he the one currently living in the Muggle world? Just this morning he had toasted his own toast. Using a Muggle appliance called a toaster.   
  
Harry used the fact that Draco was walking behind him to roll his eyes heartily. Who'd have thought that Draco Malfoy of all people would ever be happy living in a Muggle hotel and proudly telling anyone who was willing to listen what he'd seen on television last night. Harry had had a hard time biting his tongue and keeping Draco's initial reaction to the 'strange box that makes noise and has lots of tiny creatures imprisoned behind a window' to himself. Somehow he thought it wouldn't be fair to spill the beans. And if he was honest he had to admit that listening to Draco bragging was kind of entertaining.  
  
He shook his head at himself. He recalled times when he was in danger of committing murder when Draco indulged in exactly the same pastime.  
  
"Potter, do you want to stay for a drink or do you want to get back to your room immediately?"  
  
Harry stopped and turned around. "Here?"  
  
They were about to exit the pub, where they had been for a quick pit stop, and walk the remaining distance to the hotel when Draco had spoken up. Feeling the cold night air at his back Harry fumbled with the door handle behind his back and closed the door eventually.  
  
"Is that a yes?"  
  
Harry shrugged and slid into a chair at a free table closest to them.  
  
Draco did the same and reached for the drinks menu. He scanned it quickly and then glanced at Harry. "What do you take?"  
  
"No alcohol, that's for certain." Harry had had a headache all day long and it only now had started to recede. He didn't want to take a chance that it returned full force.  
  
"And what do they have that doesn't contain alcohol?" Draco seemed willing to follow Harry's example and set the alcohol aside as well -- at least for the evening.  
  
Harry hummed and held his hand out to Draco, wiggling his fingers for the menu. Draco didn't hand it over but placed it on the table between them. As Harry was about to complain that reading overhead was difficult as it was and in a foreign language almost impossible, Draco left his seat opposite him and took the place beside him.   
  
"I'm not sure, but I don't think they've got a wide range of juices," Harry said after translating what he understood and making up the rest. "Orange I think. And maybe apple though that's not on the menu per se. Instead there's something called--" Harry paused. "I don't know how to pronounce this." He pointed at _gespritzter Apfelsaft_. "I want to say it's something with juice but didn't they have something like that during lunch today and it was actually watered-down wine?"  
  
Draco sighed. "Does this pub count as wizarding ground? Probably not, but if so... One little spell and the whole menu's translated..."   
  
Draco had kept his voice down and was now still leaning close to Harry, waiting for an answer.  
  
"I--" Before Harry could reply a waiter, or more likely the host, appeared at his shoulder and looked at them expectantly.  
  
"Wos darf's'n sai?"  
  
Harry blinked but decided to answer anyway on the off chance that he got it right. How wrong could he be? "We'd like something to drink, please, but unfortunately we've got some language issues..." He trailed off. What if the man didn't understand him at all? _Oh well_ , he thought, _we can always get up and leave. No harm done._  
  
The host looked a little panicked for a moment but recovered with admirable speed. "Oh... Okay. Ah... What do you want to drink? Wine? Beer?"  
  
"Something non-alcoholic?" Harry looked hopeful. Maybe there was something more interesting than orange juice to be had after all.  
  
"Spezi?"   
  
Harry conferred the menu and found a word that might have been what the host just said. It was listed in the right section so it was at least promising.   
  
"Draco?"  
  
His companion held up both hands. "No, sorry, I can't help you here. If we were in France..." He left the sentence unfinished but Harry understood him nonetheless. He already had endured that speech often enough to last him a lifetime.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's... Lemonade?"  
  
Harry nodded encouragingly.  
  
"A mix of coke and orange lemonade. And some juice. It's a local speciality."   
  
"Okay. Then... Two of those, please."  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
They hadn't stopped with those first two and the next morning Draco had fun praising his new favourite drink at the conference, bragging that he had tried something special, something you couldn't buy just _everywhere_. And Harry? Harry didn't hear him after the first five minutes. He sat in his seat beside him, head in his hands and allowed his eyes to fall closed. Why the hell didn't Draco come with a warning? Something like 'Do not expose me to even moderate amounts of caffeine or I'm going to get hyper, stay up all night and force my companion to keep me company'.   
  
At the beginning he had thought it funny. Then he had thought it annoying. And then he had vowed to never allow that man even a mouthful of Spezi as long as they were travelling together. Maybe he'd bring a few bottles with him though and feed them to Draco sometime. He'd get him 'high' and then shove him off on whoever deserved it the most at that moment. His last coherent thought before drifting off was that would be one hell of a way of getting revenge.  
  
When Harry awoke some unknown period of time later he groggily watched Draco pour himself a cup of tea and snagged it for himself before he was even aware what he was doing.  
  
"Hey!" Draco protested. Quite loudly, Harry thought. That man always had to drag everyone's attention to his person.  
  
"I'm tired. I need tea." What he left unsaid was that he planned to restrict Draco's caffeine intake in general, and that included withholding innocent looking cups of tea and coffee.  
  
Draco grumbled but didn't wrestle his beverage back. To Harry's surprise he waved off the offer of the witch next to him when she wanted to hand him another cup, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest. If he looked curiously at him Harry didn't notice it.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
At the end of that same day, the participants of the conference had already left their designated seats and were standing together in clusters of different sizes; one of the organizers raised her voice.  
  
"Can I have everyone's attention, please? -- Thank you. We've got something different planned for tomorrow. Since people from all over Europe are gathered here, we thought it'd be nice to organize a guided tour through Bavaria for those of you who are interested. It's not mandatory to participate, of course, but we encourage it nonetheless. After all we are all here to further unity between our home countries and therefore it might be a good start to learn something new about the country you're currently staying in."   
  
She was smiling brightly but her tone was steely. _No way are they not going to hunt down everyone who tries to pass on the opportunity to run after a guard with the other sheep_ , Harry thought sourly. His gaze wandered to Draco, standing with another group not far from him. He caught his eyes and raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. If Draco decided to bail on the trip, he'd all too gladly follow his example.   
  
The other teen said something to the older wizard to his right before he made his way over to Harry.   
  
"So I take it you don't want to go, either?" Draco wanted to know.  
  
Harry cheered inwardly. Either sounded great to him because that meant that Draco was against the idea as well. He nodded.  
  
"You know," Draco whispered, "I'm not saying I don't want to see anything of this country. I've never been here before and it looks quite nice, so that'll be not too bad. But seriously, all of the others are older by at least two decades and I don't think they consider the same things fun that we do."  
  
That was not exactly mirroring Harry's thoughts on the matter, he didn't want to, period, but if it did the job he wasn't complaining.  
  
"So what do we do to get out of it?" He asked eagerly.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Harry blinked. _That_ was not what he had expected.  
  
"Nothing?" He parroted. He had to be sure.  
  
"...at the beginning. Because that's when they will check who's present. At the first possible chance we're off and then we're going to go have some fun. Of course we'll join them again before they notice that we're gone. Simple." Draco sounded proud.  
  
"And how exactly do you intend to coordinate this? You've no way to know when they're going to go back, do you?" Harry questioned.  
  
A bright grin lit up mere inches in front of his face, almost blinding him. "And this is where you're wrong." He reached for Harry's wrist and pulled him a few feet away from prying ears. "That guy I was talking to? He's one of the organizers and he told me the plan for tomorrow. Detailed." Draco shuddered. "Anyway, as long as we're back before seven, they will be none the wiser."  
  
That sounded easy enough and Harry agreed happily. A day in Draco's company sounded way better than playing sheep for some foreign ministry. And honestly, what could go wrong?  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
The next morning had Harry and Draco joining a large and, luckily, quite unsorted group of witches and wizards in front of the conference hotel. They both made sure to be seen by a lot of people, chatting a few minutes here and there but never staying with the same people for long.  
  
They dutifully Apparated to a hidden place close to the first stop of the tour, a cheese dairy. Draco's upbringing kept him from looking bored out of his mind whereas Harry's feelings showed clearly. Yes, okay, there lived cattle in Bavaria. He got that. And cows gave milk which was used to produce dairy. Fine. But did that mean the next stop was a butchery to see what happened to the rest of the cattle? Somehow that didn't sound even vaguely appealing.  
  
He checked his surroundings carefully, trying to find anything remotely interesting in the immediate vicinity but no such luck. Unfortunately Harry was well aware that they had no idea where to look for anything fun in this country and so they had to rely on the guide to take them somewhere that appeared to be a place where they could separate from the group to actually have fun.  
  
Trudging beside Draco to yet another basin with some sort of cheese in its pre-form; Harry cursed his sense of duty, every normal, self-conscious wizard would have followed his heart and went his own way from the start, when a sharp elbow connected with his right side.  
  
"On the next stop we're out of here! I don't care where we are," Draco hissed.  
  
"Too right!" Harry confirmed. Anywhere else could only be better than being caught in the middle of Muggle farm life hell. Or something like that. Whatever.  
  
They'd been staring into the basin for quite a while, ignoring the monotonous voice of the guide who offered translations and the explanations of some dairy clerk, when Harry finally realized that they were no longer surrounded by their own group but by lots of younger people, chattering school children on a day trip. He nudged Draco and motioned for him to follow the green umbrella their guide was holding up in the air a short distance away, herding his participants together.  
  
The only problem with his idea was that they'd been following the wrong green umbrella and when they noticed their mistake the wizards they should be with had already Disapparated. At first Harry didn't want to believe it and run around searching for them, but in the end he had to admit that Draco was right and they were indeed gone, leaving the two youngest of their group in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by Muggles and cheese.  
  
While Harry was not happy about the way things had turned out, Draco was furious. For all his sense of adventure beforehand, now that they were free to go wherever they wanted he didn't seem to appreciate it that much.   
  
"Potter! Stop trying to find them, you will fail, okay? You just proved that you're half blind anyway, so just give it up!" Draco hissed at him angrily. The couple standing closest to them looked at him with raised eyebrows and Draco's way to deal with them was turning his back toward the elderly Muggles and scowl at Harry.  
  
As if it was his fault. And anyway, Draco could have looked where he was heading. Harry decided to tell him just that but unfortunately Draco wasn't very understanding.  
  
"When someone tells you to follow a stupid umbrella and the colour's correct, would you check if it belongs to the right guide?"   
  
"Well, no. But since your eyesight is light-years better than mine, you should have noticed something was wrong...even from the distance."   
  
Draco huffed and turned another ninety degrees. Harry watched him pouting and counted in his head the seconds it would take Draco to come up with something to shove the guilt card back at him.   
  
"It doesn't really matter," Draco said eventually, after eighty-five seconds. It could have been eighty-six, though. "We don't even know if our group was still around when we followed the other one. And since these, also, are a bunch of grannies and grandpas, it's easy to mix them up."   
  
Harry snorted. " You... You! You admit confounding Muggles for wizards?"  
  
Draco completed the circle he had started before and didn't say another word until their adopted group got ushered into the bus waiting beside them they had ignored so far and Draco, still refusing to even glance in Harry's direction, started cursing him artfully in various languages. German was not among them.  
  
Harry's only hope was that the bus was headed somewhere more interesting for certain blond, elitist wizards. Otherwise their day was ruined for sure and Harry would end up in prison for the murder of the aforementioned wizard. There was only so much patience he could bring up.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
The teenagers tried their best to keep to themselves while the bus was taking them to an unknown location. Harry was nervous because he had no way of knowing how long their luck would hold; he felt they had to stick out in the group surrounding them. After all they were half the age of everyone else. His uneasiness receded when he noticed that, unlike him, Draco was totally calm. That made him suspect the blond of casting a subtle concealment charm but for the sake of his own sanity, Harry decided not to voice his suspicion. No one was looking at them funnily, no one was hurt and that had to be enough.  
  
As the bus carried them through endless stretches of snowy white forest and empty pastures, Harry briefly wondered where they kept the animals during the winter months. He came to realize they were probably not headed towards a bigger town or city.   
  
Finally the bus slowed down and the guide stood up, turning towards the other passengers while he fumbled with a phallus shaped electronic device in his hands. When he held it in front of his mouth before he addressed the waiting group, Harry remembered that it was the Muggle equivalent of the Sonorous spell though he couldn't recall the name.  
  
"Mir san no am Parkplotz ankumma und gängan z'Fuiß hoch den Weg zuim Schloss. Des dauert ogfähr a holbe Stund ois mit'nander."  
  
All around them people got up as one and gathered their belongings, already pushing towards the exits. The only ones still seated were Harry and Draco and two other couples seated on the other side of the bus and more toward the front.   
  
"Potter, did you understand one word of what he said?"  
  
Harry shook his head and watched as the male part of one couple beckoned the guide over. They spoke for a moment and then the amplified voice sounded once more through the bus. "Also, a Scheiß is des...ah, oh, I know now that there are foreigners in the group that don't understand Bayrisch, also ... you who don't speak German, I will translate for you. This here is the parking lot where we have to leave the bus and so we're getting out of the bus now and then we're going to walk to the castle. Dreiß'g Minuten - also, thirty minutes for the walk."  
  
Draco groaned and winced and Harry was about to do the same. While they had been able to understand the gist of what the man had been saying, surely their ears had started to bleed. The language he had used was meant to be English but it hadn't sounded like English. It had sounded... horrible.   
  
A cautious glance at the two older couples told Harry that they appeared to be more forgiving concerning the language but from what he could hear above the German chatter, thanks to one of the ladies who was able to call a loud and shrill voice her own, they were pissed that they had been appointed to this group where the guide was apparently not used to deal with foreigners. She was not pleased and regarding the nods of the others, they shared this opinion.  
  
While they complained to the guide and told him in no uncertain terms that they felt unwelcome, Draco nudged Harry and asked, "Shouldn't they have noticed earlier, let's say during the tour through the dairy, that no one was bothering to translate anything for them?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "Maybe they did and complained but no one was able to understand them? I don't know, I wasn't present, you know?"  
  
Draco looked taken aback. "Let me apologize for addressing you, Potter. I'll do my very best to avoid further incidents."  
  
With that said he pivoted around and stalked away from Harry as soon as the bus doors opened.  
  
Harry disembarked after everyone else and followed the retreating group as they made their way steadily upwards. He had gathered that they were heading toward a big castle called Neuschwanstein from all the signs that popped up everywhere in regular intervals and while part of him was interested to see it more closely, he wondered what would happen when they reached the entrance and there were no tickets for him and Draco because surely the guide or whoever had already organized some for the group beforehand.  
  
Catching up to Draco eventually he informed him of his thoughts and to his surprise Draco took him seriously. "You're right. So what do we do now? If they've made reservations or something for a set amount of tickets then they will notice that something's wrong if people go without. We were lucky enough as it is that the bus wasn't packed and no one noticed the two additionally occupied seats..."  
  
"Well, that depends whether you want to see it or not?"  
  
"Naturally I'd love to see it. But I think I will survive if I don't," Draco said but threw a longing glance toward the castle that loomed in front of them by now.  
  
Feeling sorry for him, Harry offered, "We can stay with them, you know. There's always the possibility of a Confundus charm..."  
  
There was a hint of actual gratefulness in Draco's eyes but he waved the idea off. "I'm not sure it's worth it, you know? Think about the language issues and those two grannies over there are still making the guide's life hell. Instead of improving his language skills it seems to be lethal for them as far as I can see. I'm sure there are other guides responsible for the tours inside but somehow I'm not so sure that I'd like to meet them. Besides," Draco added with a disgusted sneer, "the next stop is supposed to be another museum about some agricultural stuff. I don't know what possessed the poor soul who's responsible for this tour to compile these kinds of stops. Seriously!"  
  
"So you're suggesting that we take our leave now?" Harry wanted to be sure.  
  
"Certainly," Draco confirmed.  
  
A grin formed on Harry's face. "Great! So what are we going to do now? How do we get away from here? We can't just Disapparate since I wouldn't know where to go to."  
  
Draco seemed to consider their options and finally he decided, "We're going to make our own little tour. Let's go find the train station and then take it from there."  
  
"It can only get better," Harry agreed and followed Draco down the hill. If there was a spring in his step it was just because of the relief he felt due to having survived the Muggle trip.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
They had reached the train station eventually and were debating where to go to when Harry reached for the leaflet, almost squealing in delight. This was exactly what they needed.   
  
"Here! This is where we're going." He thrust it in Draco's hand, gaining a raised eyebrow in response.  
  
"And what is it?"  
  
"Look! It's called Alpsee Bergwelt." Harry stumbled over the pronunciation and pointed at the name. "This is going to be great!"  
  
Draco looked doubtful but batted Harry's finger away. "I'm well able to read, thank you. Now, at least let me take a look."   
  
He left it at that but Harry swore he heard the rest just fine: _...if you're planning to kill me anyway_.   
  
Thumbing through the leaflet, Draco found no English translation and frowned. He skimmed the German text, trying to understand what was going in with the help of the pictures and looked up. "You sure?"  
  
Harry nodded enthusiastically.   
  
"I've wanted to try something like that for years."  
  
After what seemed to be a long and hard internal struggle, Draco asked, "And how are we supposed to get there?"  
  
Harry took the leaflet back and showed him the back side. "It says to go by train to... Immenstadt...and then to use the bus."  
  
Draco sighed. "Lovely. One more hell ride."  
  
"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad," Harry defended the vehicle.  
  
"Uh huh. Boring. Took forever. Sticky air. Lots of people. Yes, I can see why you'd want a repeat. It was simply delightful," Draco muttered.  
  
Harry chose to ignore him and started to search his pockets for German money to feed the ticket vending machine with.  
  
"I don't suppose you've got some Mark, do you?" Harry asked.  
  
"Marc? Like... a man?" Draco asked disbelievingly.  
  
"No, like money."  
  
"Should I?"  
  
Remembering the drama in the pub the other night, Harry shook his head wearily. Well, why come to a foreign country and do something stupid like carrying the local currency with you? Thank Merlin for Hermione Granger who made sure that he got the right kind of bills and coins and force-fed him some terms and phrases before he left. At least now he wasn't completely helpless. But as for his grand plans, this was bad news and Harry's face fell.  
  
"What's wrong _now_?" Draco asked, slightly exasperated.  
  
"I don't have enough money left to pay for the train fare and the tickets for the coaster," Harry admitted.  
  
Now it was Draco's turn to search through his pockets and suddenly he presented a plastic card with a flourish. "Would this help?"  
  
"Gods, yes! Why didn't you say you had one of those before?"  
  
"I'm not totally sure what it's for. I never used it so far," Draco said, sheepishly. "But I remember getting it years ago to use it in case I was stuck in a Muggle area with no money at all."  
  
"Great. -- Oh, wait." Harry's hopes dwindled away when a new thought occurred to him. "Do you know the pin number?"  
  
Who in their right mind memorized some stupid unused number for years to come, Harry asked himself.  
  
The answer was Draco Malfoy. But then, where that man was concerned Harry would never claim to speak of someone in their right mind.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
In the early afternoon they reached their destination and got out of the bus, Harry giddily, Draco not so much. Looking up the mountain in front of them and taking some special time to eye the chair lift, Draco turned to Harry.   
  
"Uh, Potter, sorry to disappoint you but I'm not risking my life boarding one of those things. They're hanging on a thread..." Draco trailed off, shuddering.  
  
"It's a steel rope. It won't break under your fly weight."  
  
Draco huffed. "Are you saying I'm to skinny?"  
  
Rolling his eyes skywards Harry heaved a sigh. "I'm not saying anything. Except that these things are secure enough to use. By the way, I thought you've been skiing since you were a toddler. How did you get up the hills if you're that adverse to chair lifts and the likes?"  
  
"We're wizards, Potter, remember? My parents used to Apparate me uphill, well, mostly the nanny did."  
  
There was nothing Harry could think of to say to that so he looked around, trying to come up with a satisfactory solution for everyone.   
  
"How about we just walk up there? Look, there's a path --"  
  
"There's also a ten feet thick layer of snow covering everything," Draco threw in immediately.  
  
"...as I was saying, there's a path cleared for hikers. We could use this one."  
  
Draco didn't look happy with this information. "Are you confusing me with a mountain goat?"  
  
Harry was tempted to say that the hair colour wasn't that far off but he heroically withstood the temptation.  
  
"Chair lift or walk, you decide!"  
  
Secretly he hoped Draco would opt for the walk. A walk through the snowy landscape sounded quite appealing or, dared he say, romantic? Not that he assumed anything would happen between them, not in this lifetime, but well, walking up there, all alone with no people surrounding them... And then there was the view on the lake below... Harry mentally smacked himself and added a hissed, "Now, please!"  
  
Draco stalked to the counter and somehow managed to purchase two tickets for the chair lift and two for the coaster, handing over some of the bills he got from the cash point at the train station in Immenstadt that thankfully allowed the use of his credit card.   
  
For Harry, the ride in the chair lift was spectacularly boring aside from the background sound of Draco cursing constantly. He had finally noticed the cars of the coaster when they had been transported past them, using their own lift, and then he had remembered the pictures in the leaflet. Now that he was aware that he was expected to sit in one of these orange 'killer machines' that shot downhill on a track that was practically hanging in the air, he got a bit green around the gills and didn't hesitate to let Harry know what he thought of it all.  
  
Since he apparently didn't expect or need an answer, Harry didn't offer one and eventually they had reached their destination. Hopping off the lift they made their way toward the starting point of the coaster when Draco spotted the signs for something more interesting. He vaguely remembered the name 'Bärenfalle' from the leaflet and insisted on taking a closer look at what had looked like an adventure playground for adults.  
  
Pulling Harry in his wake, they stumbled toward the high ropes course where Draco stood, watching a group of Muggles high above their heads with bright eyes. Different colours marked different degrees of difficulty and all of them did their best, depending on their abilities.  
  
Harry went to find someone for more information and learned that during the winter months there were no business hours per se, they just opened the high ropes course for groups that booked it in advance. But come April everyone was welcome any time without reservations.   
  
Sauntering back to Draco, Harry asked with a grin, "How is this better than the chair lift? These ropes are way thinner than the one back there."  
  
"Yes," Draco acknowledged. "But here I'm responsible for my own security. If I make no mistakes nothing bad happens." He still looked wistfully up in the trees.  
  
Before he could stop himself, Harry told him about the business hours and that they could come back in spring if Draco wanted to.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
Harry nodded. He didn't think Draco would want to travel with him again once they survived this trip, but he allowed himself to dream.  
  
"If, and I say if, we come back, I'd like to have a contest with you," Draco told him and Harry cheered inwardly. This was the kind of competition he could handle.   
  
"Just you wait!"   
  
It took some time to convince Draco to leave the high ropes course and even longer to get him near the starting point of the coaster.   
  
Scrunching his nose when he eyed the cars waiting in line to be driven downhill, Draco suggested they just took the chair lift back in town. When Harry declined, Draco even offered to walk only for this idea to be rejected also.  
  
"Listen, I really want to do this. What do you think will happen?" Harry pulled Draco closer to the cars. "Look, you just have to loose the brake by pushing these handles forward. If you panic and let them go, the car will stop."  
  
"I'll still be trapped in this thing high above the ground," Draco pointed out.  
  
"Okay, but you can't fall or anything as long as you don't leave the car. -- I promise you this. If something should happen, and I'm not saying that it will, then I will personally obliviate anyone who should see you using magic to free yourself."   
  
Harry knew that he was making promises that would be hard to keep because while he didn't know it for a fact, he assumed that the Germans also had something like the British Statute of Secrecy and he very much doubted that they'd be understanding if the emergency turned out to be a teenage wizard struggling on the Alpsee Coaster.  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes and stared at Harry for a few moments. In the end he nodded but asked Harry to go after him and to keep a safe distance between them. In that case, should other people come from out of the blue and get behind them, he wouldn't be under more pressure and forced to go faster than he was comfortable with.  
  
Harry happily agreed and decided to wait quite a while after Draco's departure. When he finally loosened the brakes on his own coaster car, he leaned forward as far as he could in the hope to get full speed as fast as possible. He had been assured when asking for insurance that it was impossible to force the coaster off its track no matter how fast you drove through the curves.  
  
He had delayed his start until he was certain that Draco had reached the safety of the ground and wasn't blocking his way any longer and now Harry Potter had fun. He wore a big grin when he started and whooped in delight when he was coming to the second curve, feeling his body being jerked from moving straight ahead in another direction when the coaster sped along.  
  
As far as Harry was concerned the ride was over much too soon and he was aware of the sign telling him to slow down as he reached the end of the track. Then the car was automatically brought to a halt and it was time for Harry to get out. He patted the orange plastic lovingly and turned away to look for his companion.  
  
"I'm here," said a voice to his right. Draco was waiting for him behind the barrier surrounding the arrival area of the coaster. Harry blinked. Did he actually look impressed?  
  
"How was it?"  
  
Draco hesitated.  
  
"Uh... Not as bad as I thought it would be. Some time toward the end I actually started to enjoy it and dared to go faster. It was then that I learned that going faster makes driving through the curves that much easier. Oh well. -- But obviously you had a lot of fun."  
  
"Did you watch me? Oh gods, it was amazing. If I ever get back here..."   
  
Harry trailed off when he noticed Draco looking kind of funny. "What?"  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
They spend the rest of the afternoon hunting down something to eat -- debating for what seemed like hours what each of them wanted to have until they settled for a nice looking restaurant in a town close by that served Italian food which Draco felt comfortable enough with to eat. He claimed he had had enough Bavarian impressions for one day.  
  
When they left the restaurant in the early evening, Draco was drawn to the indoor water park located right beside it.   
  
"What about that? Care to try it?"  
  
"You are aware that while we wear layers of clothes, none of them are trunks? And what about towels?"  
  
Draco growled. "For the umpteenth time, we are wizards. How difficult can it be to conjure a few tiny items?"  
  
"...in front of a Muggle establishment in broad daylight?"  
  
"It's actually pitch-black around us but apart from that... Okay, you're not wrong," Draco said reluctantly.  
  
Harry cursed. "Did you happen to notice that we don't have a place to sleep for tonight?"  
  
Draco's eyes widened. He started mentioning their hotel when he stopped himself mid-sentence. "Right. We can't Apparate there, can we?"  
  
"Nope. At least I don't know how. We arrived by Portkey and have been walking there ever since. As for the conference hotel, I think I heard someone mentioning Anti-Apparation wards once. Something to do with protecting their more prominent guests... So all we could go to is the dairy."  
  
He chuckled when he saw Draco's face fall.  
  
"No? Well, it's not my first choice, either."  
  
"You should have thought this through before you dragged me on a drip through a foreign country," Draco accused.  
  
"Huh! You wanted to get out of the organized trip as much as I did. So stop complaining, you git!"  
  
" _I_ would have visited that castle before running off to Merlin knows where and maybe we weren't lost then."  
  
Harry huffed. "Ah, stop lying! I offered to get you in there, remember? But you declined. Then you agreed to go to the station, in fact you were the one to suggest it, and you boarded the train willingly. So, how is it my fault?"  
  
"Because you made us lose our group," Draco stated.  
  
"And you kept track of them and were able to stay with them," Harry drawled, getting angry.  
  
"If you hadn't told me to run after the wrong umbrella, then yes, of course!"  
  
"The others were probably gone by then," Harry all but shouted.  
  
"Prove it!" Draco snarled back. Then he deflated visibly. Taking a few deep breaths, he continued in a more civil tone, "Look, truce, okay? We need to find a somewhere to stay and if you insist we can resume our fight there. What do you say?"  
  
Harry wanted to smack him for playing the voice of reason all of a sudden but stamped his boiling temper down.   
  
"Fine. Lead the way," was all he managed to get past his clenched teeth.  
  
Unfortunately finding a room didn't turn out to be as easy as they had expected and when one kind soul of a concierge in a small hotel in Oberstaufen offered to call their partner hotel in another town to inquire if they had some open space, they accepted gratefully. Who would have thought that that stupid white stuff outside attracted that many people?  
  
While they waited for the guy to get through to his colleague -- he told them the line was busy constantly -- they were informed that many people came to the mountains to spend a long weekend in the snow. This day being a Thursday, lots of travellers had arrived that night and wouldn't leave until Sunday, which of course didn't help Harry and Draco one bit.  
  
Finally he was lucky and even managed to secure a room for the two young men. He hung up the phone and explained, "It's in Sonthofen. That's not exactly nearby but you can get there easily by train. Since it's not that late it shouldn't be difficult to catch one before long," he added, sounding reassuring.  
  
They looked at each other, thanked him profusely and left for the station.  
  
Only when they were on the train, facing each other over two bottles of coke (Harry had felt generous and assumed that Draco had to be as tired as he was), an alarming thought occurred to him and he blurted out, "Did he say _one_ room?"  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
Well, he had been speaking of one room. Fortunately it held two separate beds, one on each wall and with quite a bit of space between them. Part of Harry was disappointed about that but he did his best to not let it show. He did take a little longer than usually to emerge out of the bathroom after his morning shower and Draco didn't pass up the opportunity to mock him about it.  
  
They had made it out of their room too late in order to get breakfast in the hotel so they made their way to the next place they came upon that looked like it'd sell them something to fill their rumbling stomachs. As usually they had difficulties sorting out what they wanted to eat since they didn't understand what was written in the menu waiting for them on the table.  
  
Draco suggested getting some tea and a few croissants but Harry was watching a group seated at the table located next to them. Draco followed his gaze, immediately scrunching up his face.   
  
"What is he doing?"  
  
"Eating?" Harry suggested.  
  
"He's...sucking a sausage out of its skin. That's disgusting! Don't they know how to use cutlery?"  
  
"Maybe it's tradition or something." Harry thought the food looked appealing and he wanted Draco to agree for them to get the same. What was the fun in being away from home when you didn't try something different anyway?  
  
"Tell you something, why don't you order whatever it is they're having and I can get my croissants?" Just as he finished talking the waiter came for their order and Draco proceeded asking for the croissants without waiting for an answer.  
  
Harry shrugged and managed to convey to the waiter what he'd like to have by pointing toward the other table. Soon after he got Weißwürste, the sausages, and something the waiter called Bretzn. They looked like pretzels and Harry figured it actually was the same. To his utter surprise the guy also put a glass of beer in front of him. Checking the other table Harry thanked him and took a sip of his drink. It didn't taste half bad even if it was only ten o'clock in the morning  
  
Draco sipped his tea and watched Harry's every move.   
  
"What?" Harry started to get irritated under his scrutiny.  
  
"I'm just interested in how you plan to ingest the sausages." He ripped off a tiny piece of a croissant and delicately placed it in his mouth.  
  
"Probably by putting them in my mouth, chewing and swallowing."  
  
Draco merely raised an eyebrow and chewed.  
  
Deciding to ignore him Harry cut the skin along the sausage's length, peeled it and cut a piece off before dipping it in the mustard and putting it in his mouth. The mustard tasted kind of sweet but since it didn't clash with the sausage he thought that maybe it was meant to be.  
  
Ten minutes later Draco's breakfast was long gone and Harry was about to start his last Weißwurst. He looked up, "Do you want to try it? It's really good."  
  
"Oh, I..." Draco seemed surprised but didn't look adverse to the idea.  
  
"Here, try it."  
  
Harry pushed his plate in front of Draco and handed the cutlery over. After a moment's hesitation Draco took it and cut the sausage like he had Harry watched doing. He chewed his morsel, including mustard, carefully before he reached for the last piece of pretzel. After eating it, too, he smiled at Harry.  
  
"It's good."  
  
Refraining from telling him 'I told you so' Harry pointed to his glass and Draco accepted the beer as well. His second cup of tea long forgotten, they ended up ordering another Weißwurstfrühstück, this time sharing it.  
  
After breakfast Draco presented a leaflet he had seen in the foyer of their hotel and showed it to Harry.  
  
"Take a look at this. They've got one of these indoor water parks here as well. Care to check it out?"  
  
Harry was uncertain. There was still the issue of their lack of suitable swimwear and towels to call their own. He voiced his concern and when he noticed Draco's disappointment, he offered to go there anyway and see if they happened to sell the needed equipment.  
  
"We could always transfigure our pants and take some towels from the hotel," Draco added.  
  
Thankfully it turned out that steeling and using magic of any kind wasn't necessary. When they entered the 'Wonnemar' sometime around noon there was a sufficient amount of towels and trunks to choose from. Quickly deciding on some items they went to the counter to pay and get their tickets.  
  
Instead of having to make a decision on what parts of the water park they wanted to use, not that they had any idea what the lady was talking about since they had failed to read the price list beforehand, each of them was handed a chip which was supposed to memorize everything they consumed inside so they only had to pay once when they left.  
  
Draco was happy with that solution. It was not that he cared about the money, but he assumed that because the payment was being dealt with this way, lots of interesting things had to be waiting for him inside. Why else would they separate the water park into different areas?  
  
It didn't take them long to change into their newly acquired trunks and after they figured out how to use the lockers in order to shut their stuff away, both young men were headed towards the showers.  
  
Harry was used to communal showers but now there was a vaguely uneasy feeling in his stomach. He found he didn't mind the other men but Draco's presence proved to be an issue. That was ridiculous of course since they had been colleagues for quite some time now and therefore Harry had witnessed him taking a shower before, but somehow this time was different. He briefly wondered if this was because he had come to like Draco more and more over the past few days, but then he remembered how he had wanted to smack him not that long ago.   
  
Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he turned away and set a new record in showering quickly which was helped by the fact that he avoided to touch some parts of his body. No need to embarrass himself in front of all and sundry.  
  
Draco was waiting for him by the door that led out of the showers and then they took their first look at their playground for the afternoon. Shoving his towels into one of the racks on the wall, Draco all but ripped Harry's out of his hands and put them aside as well.  
  
"Here, let me help you! -- Now, what are we going to do first?" As always not bothering to wait for an answer Draco made his way over to the water slides, assuming that Harry would follow him.  
  
To his annoyance, Harry did just that.  
  
Of course they had to try every one of them repeatedly which took some time because there were lots of people who apparently had had the same idea and so they were actually forced to wait in line more than once.  
  
Draco fell in love with the tire skid while Harry preferred the one that included a little free fall. They both liked the Black Hole, a tube without lighting, just fine but declared it to be kind of boring compared to the others.  
  
"No, wait, we've been at it for hours now. Can we do something else please for a change?"  
  
Harry had had enough of the slides and while he didn't want to go swimming in earnest, there were so many different things left they hadn't tried out yet. There was one pool where they created quite high waves in regular intervals and then there was a whirlpool. Not to mention the outdoor pool where you had a nice view of the snow covered mountains.   
  
Draco wasn't easily convinced, though, and so Harry left him to his tires and chose the outdoor pool for himself. Being outside in the cold but secure in the warmth of the water sounded rather appealing. Soon he learned that the some of the massaging functions arranged throughout the pool were not only relaxing but also worked in the opposite way.   
  
Harry's front was pressed close to the wall of the pool with his arms folded on the edge, his chin resting on them. He was situated close to one of those wicked water massage jets that was placed at a convenient height and used the time to alternately daydream and enjoy the view on the landscape.  
  
Suddenly there was a hand between his shoulder blades and he jerked away.   
  
Draco giggled into his ear. "It's just me, you scaredy-cat. -- So, what are we doing?"  
  
Thankfully Draco didn't seem to notice just what exactly Harry had been doing and to distract him Harry took a few steps away from 'his' water jet.  
  
"I'm currently recovering from a heart attack. I don't dare to make assumptions about you," Harry said, his tone not exactly friendly.  
  
"Whoa, okay." Draco held both hands up in a placating manner. After an uncomfortable silence he spoke up again. "Don't you get cold out here?"  
  
"I'm in the water." Harry sounded only a little less frosty than before.  
  
"Hmm," Draco assumed Harry's earlier position and his eyes widened almost comically. "What is _that_?"  
  
Harry blushed and looked anywhere but at Draco. That was too embarrassing. After all who wanted to get caught in a compromising situation with a massage jet? And by his co-worker no less? Well, his quite hot co-worker. Because there was no denying that Draco looked edible in his trunks and if Harry was honest with himself he had to admit that more often than not he had seen Draco and not the mountains when he had been staring into the distance.  
  
"Potter?" Draco's voice was a bit hoarse and Harry, in spite of his distress, made a mental note to himself to make sure the other man drank a lot of hot tea or something later since he didn't want him to catch a cold.   
  
"Could you stop calling me Potter all the time?" Oh, oops, that was not what he had wanted to say, was it?  
  
"Uh, it's your name, yes?" Draco seemed at a loss.  
  
"I know that, but maybe you could start calling me Harry eventually?" _And don't ask me why because I won't be able to give you an answer._  
  
"You're sort of inconsistent with your moods, you know? Two minutes ago I was certain you were planning my immediate death and now you're asking me to call you by your given name..." Draco trailed off.  
  
Fortunately Harry was good at thinking on his feet. "Well yes, friends call each other by their names, don't they?"  
  
Draco gave an acknowledging sound, something between a grunt and a squeal. Harry thought it sounded cute. "Friends?"  
  
"If you want... I mean, there's a difference between what I feel for the rest of our colleagues and you and so I had to come up with another label for you," Harry explained. It wasn't exactly the truth but he figured it was close enough.  
  
There was a calculating look in Draco's grey eyes and Harry was certain he was about to say something no doubt embarrassing any moment now but Draco just suggested they tried the sauna now. Harry, not knowing what he was talking about, agreed gladly. Anything to get him out of this pool before Draco remembered that he had been asking him about the massage jet.  
  
Well, after they had entered the sauna area Harry discovered that he had come out of the frying pan and straight into the fire. As he realized that he was expected to shed the last bit of cloth covering him, he knew it was worse. Thankfully Draco had made sure they took their towels with them, and Harry hurried to wrap one of them protectively around his middle section.  
  
Only then did he dare to look around. In front of them was a long corridor. The floor consisted of light stone tiles of various colours ranging from almost white over grey to shades of beige. The brick wall on one side contained little alcoves which held tiled benches in blue and a small basin each to give the guests the opportunity to rest and take a footbath. The other side of the corridor held quite a few little cabins made of wood -- the saunas -- and a warm water pool along with lots of windows. To the side there was an area containing a deep pool with icy water and various showers.  
  
Harry and Draco wandered around aimlessly, trying to take in everything.   
  
"Which one do you think is a good one to start with?" Harry wondered. He'd just cling to his towel, look Draco straight in the eye or avoid him altogether and he'd be fine. He had come to the conclusion that he wouldn't get out of there before they had finished whatever Draco had planned for them to do and so Harry resigned himself to his fate.  
  
"You've never done this before, have you?"  
  
Since his question held no malice, Harry answered truthfully, shaking his head no.  
  
"Then I'd say we look for something not that hot for a start. I don't want you fainting on me," Draco said. He proceeded to check the plates near the entrances of the saunas and finally he waved Harry to him.  
  
Harry sauntered over to him obediently and peered inside the cabin. It was lit in a strange yellow light and was rather small, he thought. And it was empty. That...could be bad.  
  
"Why this one?"  
  
"It's one of the 'cooler' ones and I think it looks nice." Draco didn't mention that it was the only sauna that wasn't already occupied and Harry wasn't sure if he was even aware of the fact.  
  
Draco opened the door and ushered Harry through and a smell of herbs greeted them. Just when they sat down on the benches to get comfortable the colour of the light changed into a soothing orange tone.   
  
"Aren't we supposed to be sweating in here?" Harry asked after about five minutes.  
  
He was still sitting on the lowest bench, wrapped in his towel, and he didn't feel hot one bit.  
  
"Patience," was all Draco told him. He had moved to the highest bench and was lying on one towel, the other scrunched up to serve as padding on the wooden headrest and lending additional length to the other towel. According to Draco you were not allowed to let uncovered skin touch the wood, keeping it clean of your sweat.  
  
Harry assumed he was actually lying there stark naked but he didn't take a look in order to check. He didn't dare.  
  
But he started to sweat at that thought. Suddenly he felt awfully hot and it didn't take long until sweat was running down his back. Harry got dizzy.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Uh?"   
  
Harry was so out of it that he didn't even notice that Draco had granted him his request and addressed him by his first name.  
  
"Gods, you idiot! Why didn't you say something?" Draco kneeled in front of Harry who was glad that he was already beet red. At least that way his blush didn't show when he was faced with certain body parts of his saviour.  
  
"Do you want to lie down? Or maybe we should get you out of here?" Draco mused.  
  
Harry wasn't up for making a decision and so Draco made him rest for a few minutes before he led him out of the sauna, guiding him toward some of the couches in the relaxation room. Making sure that he was covered with in his towel, Draco sank onto the couch beside him.  
  
"Close your eyes for a moment, okay?"  
  
Draco's voice washed over him and Harry did just that.  
  
When he woke up the world outside was already dark and Harry jerked upright. A quick look to his side confirmed Draco's absence. While he was a bit sad that he had left him on his own, Harry was glad that he hadn't ruined someone else's day.  
  
Not sure where he should start looking for Draco, Harry got up and finished the tour of the sauna area. Outside there wasn't much to see but another cabin and one more pool. He dipped his toes inside. Yes, another cold one.  
  
When he came back inside he found Draco in the warm water pool and debated with himself if he should risk losing his towel and get into the water beside him.  
  
"Oh, look who's finally awake again," Draco greeted him cheerily.  
  
"Hi. Did you have a good time?"  
  
"Yes, I did. I've been to the Finnish Sauna and then I tried the something I don't know the name of. Everything was made of stone in there and it was great but now I'm kind of exhausted."  
  
That decided it then. Harry waited for Draco to exit the pool and then they went to retrieve their trunks. In spite of the fact that they hadn't seen far from everything they decided to call it a day and head into town instead. Both of them were hungry and Draco claimed he was getting a headache from the smell of chlorine.  
  
The bus took them quickly back to town and they were amazed by the masses of people moving around them.   
  
"Did we miss anything important?" Harry asked, flabbergasted.  
  
"I really don't know but if you want to, we can check out where they are headed to," Draco offered.  
  
"You don't mind? I thought you wanted something to eat?"  
  
"Of course I do, but where there are many people there's always something to eat."  
  
Harry couldn't see anything wrong with this reasoning and so they let themselves go with the flow.  
  
"Wow," Harry breathed. "This is just wonderful."   
  
They found themselves in the middle of a Christmas market. The town was decorated beautifully with little lights and fir green. Different kinds of food were sold between stalls where products like bowls made of wood or self-made Christmas decoration were presented. They admired some of the more artful articles and agreed to come back and buy something for Christmas presents later on.  
  
It was cold but not unpleasantly so and Harry thought something warm to eat and drink would help them to stay warm.  
  
"What do you want to eat?" Harry asked.  
  
"I'd like to start with something simple. Can we just get some sausages in a bread roll with ketchup?"  
  
"Of course we can," Harry replied and proceeded to fulfil Draco's wish. He handed over one of the rolls and bit into his own. It was kind of greasy but he was hungry and therefore it tasted divine.  
  
"To drink?"  
  
Draco nodded toward a booth that sold beverages and swallowed. "I'm freezing my arse off. How about some mulled wine?" he suggested.  
  
Harry snorted. "Of course, I only collapsed once today. Why not aiming for another time?"  
  
"Okay. Mulled wine for me, cocoa for you."  
  
"I don't think that goes with the sausage," Harry disagreed.  
  
"So what do you want?" Draco was apparently starting to lose his patience.  
  
"Let me finish this and then I'm going to get some chips or something and after that mulled wine would be appreciated."  
  
Draco growled in response and concentrated on his food until loud shouts made him drop his bread roll. Harry almost lost the grip on his food as well when he noticed the figures that made their way through the crowd. They looked like unfortunate mixtures of cows and Merlin knew what other animals while their pace was quite human. The heads were huge and most of the creatures had horns. Some people clad in rags were walking behind them, or maybe they were dragged along, Harry couldn't be certain.   
  
The crowd didn't seem to be as terrified of them as they should be, though. Most people just stepped aside and let them pass but still some of them got hit with clubs and one of those unlucky ones was Draco. He squealed and reached for his wand, ready to hex whatever attacked him but Harry threw himself in his arms just in time before he succeeded.  
  
"Draco, no!" Harry gasped.  
  
The procession had passed them by now and Harry could hear Draco's harsh breaths over the decreasing noise. Over Draco's shoulder he watched people resuming their earlier tasks and conversations as if nothing had happened. He took it as an indication that indeed everything was fine.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Draco hissed, not letting go of Harry.  
  
"I do not know. But according to the behaviour of everyone else it was nothing unexpected at least," Harry answered, still quite shaken himself and unsure what to make of the situation.  
  
Draco looked up at that, making an effort to calm himself down, and eventually he took a step back.   
  
"You're right. Gods! Is this their kind of humour? I can't say it's funny..." His eyes narrowed. "Potter..."  
  
Harry followed his gaze and tried to look guilty. Sticking firmly to Draco's front was Harry's leftover food consisting of a little bit of sausage and roll and huge amounts of ketchup.  
  
Harry couldn't help it. He laughed.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
At first Draco had been pissed and insisted on returning to their hotel immediately but when Harry pulled him into a dark corner and cast a discrete Scourgify on his jacket before buying them both mulled wine laced with Amaretto, Draco relented.  
  
When they were each on their second glass and Draco had managed to convince Harry to try each and every variety of mulled wine available, his mood brightened up immensely.  
  
Now, after they had had about five glasses of wine -- each -- and, as if by a miracle, had found their way back to their room, Harry fell face first onto the first bed that crossed his way. He didn't stay alone for long, though.  
  
"Oomph," Harry grunted when something landed on him and shoved him further into the mattress.  
  
"My bed, Potter, move!"  
  
"Aw, you egotistical git, hasn't anyone ever taught you to share?" Harry asked the pillow which never gave him an answer.  
  
Eventually accepting that he was on his own there, Harry rolled to his side and thereby managed to lose the dead weight draped over his back.  
  
"Hog the blanket and you're dead..." Draco promised darkly before he fell asleep.  
  
Harry merely grunted and buried his head further into the pillow. At least that was what he planned to do until someone else tried to push him aside, almost landing him on the floor in the process.  
  
"Hey! Watch what you're doing," Harry complained but Draco snored undeterred.  
  
Faced with the choice of arranging himself with Draco's body on the bed he was already lying on or getting up now and start the incredibly long trip across the room to his own cold bed, Harry decided to stay. It wasn't really a conscious decision but he was quite happy with it once he had made up his mind.  
  
Climbing over Draco, Harry squished himself between the wall and his friend so that he wouldn't be the one ending up on the floor should it come to that. Then he pulled the pillow closer to his side, thankful when he saw it would work for both of them. Finally Harry spread the blanket over them as well as he was able to before he fell into a deep slumber.  
  
He woke up some indefinite time later when something pressed mercilessly onto his bladder. Realizing that he wasn't lying on his stomach and therefore not the one to blame for his discomfort, Harry forced his eyes open and winced. Why had no one bothered to switch off the light?   
  
Once he was able to see more than stars he noticed that he had been sleeping on the wrong side of the room and, at the same time, that he wasn't the only occupant of the bed.  
  
"Oh, right, Draco..." He mumbled and felt around under the blanket. He still needed to get rid of the pressure before something truly humiliating happened. Because honestly, compared to having an accident while someone else was sleeping beside him, the horror of the massage jet incident, as he had started to think of it, paled.  
  
A bony knee was the culprit. A knee that shifted when he ran his hand along the leg it belonged to, now pressing against other quite sensitive parts. Holy hell...  
  
Harry groaned. He had to go. Now. But he didn't want to. He wanted to rub some more against the knee or maybe against the firm thigh above it. Or... Hmm.   
  
Giving himself some serious time to think before he did something stupid, Harry crawled over Draco's lean form -- feeling his groin rub over a blanket covered hip was so good -- and headed toward the loo. Standing in front of the bowl he cursed his libido and wasted precious minutes talking his cock down until he was able to do what he came for.  
  
Harry was shivering when he finally crawled back under the covers. Travelling without your pyjamas was such a stupid idea in the middle of winter. Well, not that he had had a choice, but sleeping in just a t-shirt and some boxers was too little.   
  
"Harry?" Draco asked sleepily, his voice barely audible.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you. Go back to sleep," Harry murmured, pulling the blanket up under his chin. He didn't stop to wonder why he came back to this bed instead of going to the other one now that he had been up anyway.  
  
"Hmm."  
  
Just when Harry thought Draco was asleep once more he rolled himself out of the bed, staggering toward the loo and repeating Harry's actions from minutes before. He did take a lot of time, though, and when he returned he was shaking from the cold.  
  
Harry lifted the blanket invitingly and Draco followed the invitation.  
  
Again they lay in silence.  
  
"Why didn't you turn out the light?" Draco asked curiously.  
  
"Why didn't you?"  
  
"Didn't think of it until it was too late..."  
  
That Harry could understand. He didn't respond.  
  
"We could spell them out." Draco sounded hopeful.  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay. -- I'm cold."   
  
Draco tried to turn to his side without falling off the mattress but instead he rolled against Harry who then realized what took Draco so long in the bathroom. He stifled a groan and tried to breathe regularly.  
  
"Po-Harry, you said we're friends, right?" Draco asked hesitantly.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"What kind of friends?"  
  
How could he get away with asking something like this in this innocent tone? And why were the stupid lights still on?  
  
"Whatever kind you want us to be." _There, deal with it. Huh!_  
  
Harry was proud of his response, having managed to pass the decision-making on, but when Draco failed to say something in return he started to doubt himself. Merlin, that was complicated, wasn't it? This was Draco. Anyone else and he wouldn't be in danger of frying his brain this way. He wanted it and if he happened to share his sleeping place with a stranger like that, _as if_ , well, the decision would be easy. He would just get on with it, happy about the lack of consequences. And if it were one of his friends, he'd beat his eager cock down with a stick, not just mentally if need be, because friends didn't bugger friends.  
  
But Draco? Draco fell into a special category of his own. He wasn't his friend since like forever but he also certainly wasn't a stranger. There would be consequences.  
  
But maybe he wanted it, too? No one started asking questions of that explosive potential in the middle of the night completely out of the blue, Harry told himself, and what's more, a certain part of him was poking Draco and he was doing nothing to pull away from it.  
  
"I'm not quite sure what will happen if I do this..." Draco said eventually.  
  
"Do what?" _Tell me, tell me, tell me!_  
  
"If you're going to bite my head off, you know." Draco went on as if Harry hadn't said anything. "I'm sure I told you this before but your behaviour tends to be difficult to assess. First you offer to come back to the high ropes course with me once it's open and then you wonder if you're ever going to see that stupid coaster again. In this pool at the indoor water park... Well, I wasn't sure. What a shame you all but fainted in the sauna or I would have tried to find out."  
  
"What? Why? What did I miss?" Harry asked, stumbling over his words in his haste to find out if what he thought Draco was thinking was indeed what Draco was thinking.  
  
Determination shown in Draco's eyes and he pushed himself firmly and certainly deliberately against Harry's hardness, keeping his eyes open all the while, his body tense and on alert. Harry wondered if Draco really expected him to kick him out.  
  
Only when Harry threw one leg over Draco's, wrapping his arms around him, and pushed back just as firmly he closed his eyes, clearly happy with the response he got.   
  
"Wait, wait, wait! I think we forgot something," Draco whispered against Harry's bent head before he captured his lips in a kiss.  
  
Unable to answer verbally Harry groaned and opened his mouth to the questing tongue.  
  
:-:-:-:  
  
They had managed to get out of their pants before they came, albeit barely. Afterwards they had decided unanimously, now that they had gone through all the trouble of disrobing in the middle of the night and despite the distinct lack of warmth in their room, they deserved a treat, and since it still hadn't been that late, they had put the bath tub to good use, ignoring the guest in the room located beside theirs knocking at the wall repeatedly.  
  
Now it was the next morning and somehow they got up earlier than the day before. Therefore they had breakfast at the hotel before they headed out for the day. For all the fun they had had, both of them started to get restless. They'd been gone for almost two days by now and while they believed the other participants of the conference not to be the most perceptive bunch of people, it still was quite a long time. Considering that they had planned to be back within the very day they disappeared they had to admit failure.  
  
Unfortunately they had no real idea where to start looking for clues. It wasn't like they could stop random strangers in the street and ask them how to get back to their hotel. Aside from the language issue -- Harry knew how to ask for directions but most likely wouldn't be able to understand the directions he got in German -- they couldn't very well ask Muggles for the nearest wizarding residence.  
  
Draco swore he was able to recognize any passing magical person on sight but he couldn't recognize what wasn't there.  
  
And so they found themselves once more on the Christmas market, fighting the remaining nausea with more mulled wine and mourning the fact that they didn't have some hangover potion at hand. While at first they had made sure to whisper certain key words in each other's ear, cautious not to get overheard, over time they forgot and talked normally instead.  
  
"I'd offer you some but unfortunately I had to use up the last of my batch just this morning," said a female voice to their right.  
  
Draco raised an eyebrow while Harry turned around. There was a young woman, light brown hair, slender figure, about five years or so older than he and Draco, smiling at them. Had she been talking to them?  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"For your hangover," the young woman, who had indeed addressed them, elaborated. "If it's important though, down the street there's a pharmacy in case you care for some pain killers in pill form."   
  
The way she had stressed the pill form made two pairs of eyes widen in surprise. Could this be true?  
  
Draco was the first to find his voice, asking, "Are you from here?"  
  
She nodded brightly. "Yes, born and raised, though I went to school in Scotland. It was great, you know. Our school building was this huge old castle--"  
  
Harry interrupted, "Oh, we know that school. It happens we graduated there this year."  
  
"Did you?" She smiled. "I heard they had a few personnel changes...?" She trailed off. "But I guess you know more about the circumstances than you'd like."  
  
Harry nodded solemnly and Draco didn't show any reaction at all.  
  
"Okay, that was the wrong thing to mention, right? What a way to kill the mood." She seemed to be genuinely sorry.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Harry shook his head. It wasn't her fault, was it? How was she to know how the recent occurrences affected them? And besides, he didn't want to alienate her seeing that she was a witch as well at the first person in days who was able to speak decent English and not some strange variation of it.  
  
Meanwhile she caught herself and held her hand out.   
  
"Let's try this again. I'm Annabelle."  
  
"Harry. This is Draco."   
  
Everyone shook hands.  
  
"So, do you guys need help?"  
  
"Yes!" Both young men nodded eagerly.  
  
Annabelle chuckled. "What can I help you with?"  
  
"We're lost," explained Harry.  
  
"Oh. Okay." She waited for him to continue.  
  
"It's been two days and it's not like we _want_ to go back but we're on a business trip, so... Yeah."  
  
"All of your things are gone, too?" She looked them over, apparently looking for any signs of luggage. "Or did you...put them away?"  
  
"They're not exactly lost; they're in our hotel room," said Draco.  
  
"We bought what we needed on a daily basis because unfortunately we don't know where it is," Harry added helpfully.  
  
"Uh. Yes. Explain, please."  
  
And they did. Though they didn't stay on the street for their lengthy talk but followed Annabelle into a nice Bavarian restaurant she recommended. They let her order the food and soon they ate something delicious which according to Annabelle was Schweinebraten and Klö ße or roast pork with dumplings.   
  
Harry and Draco heaved a huge sigh of relief when she not only knew the town where their conference hotel was located but also offered to take them there. She said since it wasn't that far away and it was the weekend, she'd drive them back instead of Apparating them there separately.   
  
Draco tried to decline, saying that they didn't want to ruin her plans for the weekend but she waved him off.  
  
They gathered the few things they had left at the hotel that morning and soon they were on their way. They took turns telling stories and Harry paid special attention when Draco was talking because it was a great way to learn more about him in a relaxed environment.  
  
When they told her about the shock they had had the night before she explained that what they had witnessed was called Klausentreiben and it was a local custom of the Muggles, probably something to do with people trying to drive out demons and other evil creatures. She said there were several different explanations but today it was mostly about fun.  
  
Draco leaned back in his seat in the back of the car and said indignantly, "It's disgusting, shocking unsuspecting people like that. But you people are a strange folk anyway. Remember the way this guy sucked the sausages, Harry? Merlin..."  
  
"Zuzeln, yes. It's one way to eat them."   
  
Annabelle kept here eyes on the road but grinned at Draco in the rear view mirror. "But surely not everything's been bad?"  
  
"No," Harry hastened to reassure her. "It's actually sad that we didn't meet you sooner. We could have used a qualified guide. Now we're almost on our way home, in fact, we'll be gone by tonight."  
  
"Then come back," she said immediately. "My parents got this big house and they're going to be ecstatic to have guests to dote on."  
  
Harry feared for a moment that Draco would ruin it all and ask her about her lineage but he stayed quiet and Harry wanted to kiss him for that. Okay, not only for that.  
  
"Seriously, just say a word and then come whenever you want to," she repeated.  
  
"Can we go climbing?" Draco wanted to know. "Someone promised me a healthy competition."  
  
"Mountain climbing?"  
  
Harry shook his head, looking terrified. "No. There was this high ropes course we saw but it was closed over the winter."  
  
"Oh, sure. I know some of those. It's actually kind of fun. -- So you could come in spring, if you like, and I could show you around. You can have your contest... Whatever."  
  
"We have to go back to this castle, New-something-or-other," Harry said, thinking of Draco and how he had wanted to see it.  
  
The bright smile he saw in the mirror was the best reward he could wish for.  
  
"So the spring it is? Or... Have you ever heard of the Oktoberfest? Now that is awesome..." She went on and on about the fun and size of one of the biggest fairs in the world.  
  
This time Draco did speak up, "And why would I want to let myself get pushed around by sweating, drunk Mu--, uh, people?"  
  
Annabelle grinned. "My handbag's beside you on the seat. -- Take out my purse. -- There a picture in there...blond guy, handsome. Got it? Now look at it closely. The clothes he's wearing? They're called Lederhosen, leather trousers. -- Like what you see?"  
  
Draco swallowed.  
  
"If you want to see more like him, the Oktoberfest is where you want to be..."  
  
Draco passed the picture to Harry who took one look, imagined how Draco would look in one of those things, and declared, "We'll be back!"  
  


\--THE END--

  
  
  
A/N: Here are a few links containing explanations...  
  
Information on... [SPEZI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spezi).  
  
ALPSEE BERGWELT: The Alpsee is a lake in Bavaria, surrounded by pretty landscape and mountains. To attract (even) more tourists the Alpsee Bergwelt was created. Unfortunately the links go to a German website, but there are pretty pictures... ;-) Click here for the [COASTER](http://www.alpsee-bergwelt.de/alpsee-coaster.htm) and here for the high ropes course [BÄRENFALLE](http://www.alpsee-bergwelt.de/kletterwald.htm).  
  
Here would be the information on the [WEISSWURSTFRÜHSTÜCK](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei%C3%9Fwurst).  
  
If you want to click through yet another German website, here you can find everything and more about the indoor water park: [WONNEMAR](http://www.wonnemar.de/de/sonthofen/home.html)  
  



End file.
